Human Rights

This year marks the tenth anniversary since floods of xenophobic violence swept across the country in 2008, leaving 62 people dead, at least 670 wounded, some raped and more than 100,000 foreigners displaced. Yet the outbreaks continue today. Just last month four people were killed in Johannesburg after angry protestors looted and destroyed foreign-owned shops – bringing conversations around the treatment of foreigners back to the fore.

The 2018 Zimbabwe general elections were hailed a landmark test for whether democracy would prevail in the politically-divided country. But when the results were released, concerns of fraud surfaced and violent protests erupted, which then begged the question, just how successful were these highly-anticipated elections?

‘A winner is a dreamer, who never gives up.’ – Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela former president of South Africa. On 100th anniversary of the birth of Nelson Mandela, former American president Barack Obama reminisced about how peacefully Mandela guided his nation through negotiation and reconciliation and how his generous attitude towards his former enemies saved the country from more violence and war.

For generations, across cultures and continents, people have used music as a form of protest. Lyrics and melodies transformed into mediums for communication that in any other context would be suppressed and unheard. Musical activism has cemented its crucial role in history as being a way to unite individuals in their common goal to end war or oppression.

The Dutch first settled in Table Bay in 1652 after a shipwreck. The survivors swam to shore, marooned in this new territory for a year. ‘In the time they were stranded here, they saw there was all this fresh water coming off Table Mountain, so they sent a positive report back to Holland,’ says Peter Wyk, a tour guide for Cape Town’s Free Walking Tours.The Dutch saw logistical and economic profit in this and started a business. Lead by Jan Van Riebeeck, a successful merchant and commander of the VOC (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie), or as the English called them, the Dutch East India Company. The business flourished.

Every year it is estimated that 3,500 children are abandoned and this figure refers to the children who survive. Of these survivors, 90% are under the age of one. They are left alone and defenceless. Although the issue of child abandonment is not often featured in the media, when it is, the blame tends to be given to the mother only. Fortunately, there are many organisations around Cape Town which support abandoned children but resources are tight and the industry is continuously stretched in order to accommodate growing numbers. So what happens to South Africa’s unwanted children?

Every six hours a woman is murdered by their current or former partner. In South Africa every 17 seconds a woman is raped. Here more women are killed by male partners than in any other country in the world and 40% of women are said to have experienced physical violence while pregnant.

It’s a scorching day in Khayelitsha. Even if it’s much too hot to stay in the sun, people are crowded in the middle of the streets, sweat trickling down their backs. The centre of their attention is Mr Bonginkosi Madikizela, minister of Human Settlements in the Western Cape, who is visiting a housing project. ‘When will sanitation be supplied?’ The residents ask him repeatedly. He promises them that he will make sure to fast-track it, before getting back into his car and driving away.

This July, the world has seen assaults in Libya, USA, DRC, Iraq, Syria, Germany and France. And these were just the assaults that made the headlines. What these events had in common was the aim to create terror within communities, to disrupt and divide society. To counterbalance the polarisation which seems to be on the rise, July was also the month to celebrate an icon of peace and unity. Mandela Day 2016 did just that.

According to the HIV Stigma Index, 7% of HIV-positive women report being victims of forced sterilisation. As well as this, 43% of South Africans who are HIV positive suffer from ‘internalised stigma.’ Allegations of forced sterilisation have been made in South Africa, Namibia, Kenya and Swaziland – among female HIV-sufferers, disabled and underprivileged women.